


The Dead Man in my soul

by DiamondHooHaMan



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: chapters star the same V but don't carry much/any continuity, first two chapters written before the game came out, i was kinda writing this on impulse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:42:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27703633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondHooHaMan/pseuds/DiamondHooHaMan
Summary: V is strong, capable, brave to a near suicidal fault, and more then happy to laugh in the face of anyone, even as the city burns down around her.She isn't ready to deal with the soul of a violent, hate filled ghost being willing and able to take control of her though.
Relationships: None yet but i have no idea where i'm going with this so who knows
Comments: 3
Kudos: 34





	1. Lets kill tonight

**“Shoot them.”**

“I got this.” 

**“Shoot the bastards before they take us both out. you dumb-ass.”**

“i GOT this.” V snarled at the man who wasn't really there, keeping her head down as another chunk of the car-turned-emergency-cover was blown free. V gritted her teeth as the piece of hood made the most of its new life as shrapnel and skidded a cut along her shoulder.

Even above the gunfire, and the voices yelling in a language V didn't speak, the sound of Johnny's laugh rang clear. Probably because it was inside her skull, but the less she thought about how fucking creepy that was, the better. **“sure kid. You look in control.”**

“shut the FUCK up dead-man!” V snapped, the stress of the situation carrying more venom then she'd intended. But after a moment of no response, V decided that if it worked it worked, and tried to figure out what she was gonna do next. 

It hadn't meant to be this complicated. Though if she had an Eddie for every time something cheerfully spiraled out of her control, she'd have enough to stop having to do really stupid things like agree to raid a shithole drug den to secure product for a second, even shittier, drug den.

But the second one was the one paying her so who was she to judge? 

“Do you remember that scrawny ass, Rooster lookin' dude promising there'd only be three or four of them?” V said, glancing at the two guys she'd already killed and counting the absolutely fucking more then two types of gunfire that was coming from the doorway ahead of her. “Because 'I' remember that. I remember it enough i'm going to kick his beak in for convincing me i'd be fine alone.” 

She got no response, and despite the fact she was probably seconds from one of the punks finally hitting the cars tank and lighting her up in a fireball, V laughed. The second-worst part of having a dead man in her skull was how much it'd encouraged the habit of muttering aloud any old random bullshit. The worst part was when he didn't reply to her, she went through about 5 seconds of wondering if she was just going insane.

Shaking herself out of it, V tightened her grip on her Pride'n'Joy and grinned. “hey. Hey Dead-man?”

Nothing.

V grinned. Her heart was pounding six S.O.S.'s Against her ribs a second. The odds were beyond terrible. She was outgunned. No backup was coming or even knew where to find her. She was bleeding from.... at least three places but it was hard to be sure. Hell, the idiots shooting at her might have phoned up every mate they had and an army could be baring down on her any second for all she knew. 

F.U.B.A.R. Everything was officially F.U.B.A.R.

It was chaos like this V lived for.

“Dead-man? Johnny boy? Johnny-Johnny! Mister Silverhand? Or was that your father?” there was the shattering of plexiglass as the last poor window that had survived the onslaught finally caught a few rounds. She was running out of time and she knew it. “We're gonna fuckin' die Johnny and I ain't doing a thing about it until you validate me with attention! Don't leave me hangin' like this?”

**“What?!”**

V couldn't see Johnny, but his voice rattled inside her with a bitter, frantic, urgency. For every bit of the fun she was having, the Rocker-boy was having an equal amount of hating his life being in her hands right now.

But that didn't matter, the moment she knew she had an audience, her smile only grew into something almost feral with its intensity. She waited for the telltale sounds of that one bastard with a shotgun having to pause to reload. “Wanna see somethin' cool?”

Without waiting for an answer, V sucked on the last of her reflex boosters and drank deep. The damn things tasted like a lit match pressed to the roof of her mouth, but it was a small price to pay for when the rush hit. And when it did, it felt like, well, an old friend had compared it to licking batteries without the pain. V took his word for it since she'd watched him actually lick them when high. 

A heart beat after V felt it kick in, she was raising to her feet, directly into the line of fire. Johnny was cursing her out louder and more creatively then any of the druggies had managed yet, but that was fine. He'd never seen her do this before and V'd been looking forward to the chance to freak him out. 

Turned out there was four of the punks waiting for her, the moron wearing sunglasses at night was frantically sliding shells into his shotgun. Two guys that might have been brothers were lining up semi-automatic pistols, both of them seeming to be as bewildered as Johnny that she was leaving cover but far less enraged by it. And the one bubblegum pink haired chick who'd caused all this by raising the alarm when V'd been fighting the two already dead fools.

Alright. V had pulled this off with worse odds. 

As one, the three with bullets in their clips opened up on her with a roar of gunpowder and flying metal. Any respectable member of society would be shredded into a pulp of blood and flesh within moments. 

V simply raised her Pride'n'Joy, and got to work. The Thermal Katana gripped in both hands gleamed with such an intense orange light that it stung her eyes to look at for too long. But that was fine, her optical implants had already done their job and taken in the models of the guns, the exact angles and velocities, and how many bullets she was gonna have to deal with.

Her adrenalin and boosted reflexes did the rest. Her arms began moving in what to her opponents looked like a random blur, V's Katana moved fast enough that it was leaving a gleaming trail behind it like a glowstick in a rave. 

Up, left, 30 degrees, move. 

Every single bullet found itself hitting the gleaming metal of the blade rather then her. It was barely 8 seconds but with the Booster mixed with both stress and the absolute concentration needed, by the time the three stunned Drug dealers hit empty, V was sweating and breathing heavy like she'd just sprinted 10 miles. But she was alive. And from a slightly detached place, V realised she'd been laughing the entire time. 

Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Too many things to focus on. Too much happening at once. Too many instincts yelling for attention, or was that just Johnny?

One second. Bubblegum opened her mouth to speak. The brothers had their priorities better figured out and started to eject the clips from their guns, V jumped, one boot onto the ruined bonnet of the car, with no time to worry about the danger of the torn and ragged metal.

Two seconds. Bubblegum got as far as “what the-”. The clips began their fall to the ground. ShadesMcNoSense got the last shell into place with a click. V was standing on the car. Johnny was yelling at her about something. 

Three. “-fuck was that?” finished off Bubblegums helpful summery of the situation. Both Brothers were pulling spare clips from pockets. Shades started to lift his shotgun, already pumping it ready.  
V realised she wouldn't make it in time to stop him. Johnny was sounding really mad. V hurled her sword at the Shade wearing fool.

Four. Bubblegum promoted herself to the brains of the operation, because she was the only one who saw someone throwing a sword in her direction as a reason to move, and threw herself backwards. The Brothers both seemed intent on reloading no matter what, and would have been dead if she'd aimed for them. Shades at least noticed what was coming, but managed nothing else besides widened eyes and an “shit!” before he was impaled through the heart. The sizzling of meat beginning before he'd even hit the ground.

And time started moving normally again as the booster lost its short term high. 

Still laughing, though more out of a need for an outlet then any kind of amusement, V leapt from the car and straight into Brother number One. He gasped and staggered from the unexpected weight, and V milked the opening for all it was worth, cracking her elbow into his nose in place of a greeting. 

Something cracked, but the resistance she felt and the lack of blood made her pretty sure there was more metal then cartilage. Which was probably why he was far less staggered then he had any right to be, and V yelled in pain as he returned the favour by punching her roughly in the gut. V doubled over in pain, the wind being knocked out of her but tried to make the most of her new lower position by grabbing onto his knee and twisting as violently as she could manage. 

Luckily for V, he went down. Unluckily for her, Brother two hadn't actually gone anywhere and just as she was trying to get some more air in her lungs, his foot swung up and cracked her in the face. 

V's nose was NOT metal as it turned out, and her head snapped backwards in an arc of blood that sent her to the floor, her vision blacking out for what was probably only a heartbeat, but in a situation like this, that could have been enough to kill her. 

Move. Move damn you! V thought desperately. Her brain might have taken the hit but it was the rest of her that seemed to be taking a day off work over it as it only sluggishly shifted in response to her urgent demands. 

Brother two stepped forwards and pushed his foot into her already bruised stomach, getting another yell of pain out of V. His gun was aimed down directly between her eyes and he was yelling at her in.......  
“i don't. I don't fuckin' speak what you speak Dude.” V groaned out through gritted teeth. “i can do English, Russian or like, five or six words of Spanish.” If she was gonna die, and that seemed more likely by the second, then context would be nice. 

Brother two seemed to take that personally and he drove his heel into her a little more. “i SAID who the hell sent you here?!” he yelled which made V snicker a little even though it really shouldn't have. 

“would you believe me if I said I don't know his name?” V asked with a grin that had more blood drenching her teeth then she would have liked. Apparently the answer to that was 'no' because she was suddenly shouting out a curse as he kicked her again. “The.... fuck! The fuckin' guy! Red hair! Deals same shit as you, lives above the fuckin' Neon Wolf down the block!” she tried, really needing them to understand she was serious about having just forgot. “Do NOT kick me again!” 

“And why not?” the First Brother said, having got up by now, wincing with every step he focused on his leg. V smirked through the pain and hoped she'd torn something. “you show up here on the orders of that little cockroach? kill my friends, and now you're asking for favors?” 

Well when he put it like that she felt like it was unlikely. Speaking of his dead friends, it was only then she realised she was currently being pinned onto the body of Shades, her head less then a foot from her own sword that was still happily sizzling away into the guys torso. It was a shame there was no way to grab it without instantly being spotted and shot in the face.

Oh what she wouldn't give for Mantis Blades right now. 

Despite herself, V laughed, because for some insane reason the phrase 'a mantis blade! My kingdom for a mantis blade!' had popped into her head. 'her kingdom' being a shitty little apartment and a few piles of her unsorted crap. 

If selling all her worldly belongings WAS enough to get that kind of hardware, she'd happily live in a box on the street for a while and........ 

**“What the hell is wrong with you?”**

Johnny was standing behind Brother one, and V thought this might in fact be the most disgusted he'd ever looked with her in the few weeks they'd met. **“you're such a maddening fuck up to deal with. You have a GUN. These morons are drugged out of their minds and you could'a capped them all with your eyes shut if you'd bothered.” he spat out the words more then saying them. **“and now you're ruining EVERYTHING.”****

****

****

“I don't.... like guns.” V choked out defensively. This was not even the first time they'd had this argument TODAY. V swore on her soul if she was really gonna have to listen to him go on about this AGAIN then could they please get on with it and shoot her? 

“what's she babbling about?” Bubblegum said to the brothers. Because oh yeah. No one else could see him. Fun. 

It didn't seem like either of the men cared enough to try and clear things up. In fact it looked like this really was the end...... It being over something as stupid as a drug ring she had never heard of until an hour ago was the bit that annoyed her the most. That and the fact this prick was STILL standing on her ribs.

**“No.”** Johnny said, walking right through the brothers with a shimmer of blue electrical binary. **“No you're not fuckin' up my last chance.”** he leaned down towards her, his eyes burning with anger behind his sunglasses.

V realised what he meant to do and instantly began struggling, even when both of the brothers kicked her to to try and make her stay down, she tried to move, not even really noticing or caring about the flaring pain across her body from every blow. None of that mattered right now. Her eyes bulged as ghostly Silver fingertips reached for her forehead. 

For the first time tonight, V felt true fear. “Don't you fuckin' dare! Johnny NO! Please-” 

And just like that, everything went dark as V was forced out of the drivers seat. 

The first time Johnny had threatened to take control, V had visualised it as her being like him, the asshole ghost who watched him have a run around in her body and could talk, and act and protest if she didn't like what she was seeing.

And then the bastard had actually done it. 

It wasn't that at all.

It wasn't anything. 

It was darkness. Nothingness. Skipped time.

She blinked and then she was back, left not knowing how much time had passed or what he'd used her body to do.

“-Don't do....” the last of her sentence fell from her bruised lips on impulse. V gasped out and staggered as she suddenly realised she was standing up all of a sudden. Barely catching herself on a nearby table. Table? Indoors. Unfamiliar. Where the fuck, how long what did he?

Her throat burned, V gagged and came close to throwing up as so much uncertainty barrelled down on her at once. No no no no. Ok. Hold it together V. it's okay. It's gonna be..... 

V let out a weak groan as she saw a complete strangers body laying slumped against the far wall with a bullet hole in his forehead. She looked down at her trembling hands. 

The pistol V'd bought but never wanted as a compromise with Johnny was in her hands. The one she'd painted the word “contingency plan” along the barrel when she was feeling cute. “Fuck.” 

she'd killed that guy.

HE'D killed the guy. Using her body. Shit. 

“FUCK!” V cried out, hurling Contingency Plan across the room and not even flinching when it went off on impact and blasted a hole in the wall behind her.  
**  
“i think what you mean is 'thank you Johnny! You're my hero!'”**

V wheeled around violently. Johnny was there, sitting on a chair behind her with a cigarette in his mouth and a smug look around the rest of him.  
“you FATHERLESS SON OF A DOG HUMPING WHORE!” V screamed at the ghost, storming over and swinging an open palmed slap at his face. The fact her hand went right through him only pissed her off even worse.

**“That's a new one.”** Johnny said with a raised eyebrow. Whatever anger he'd felt towards her seemed to have gotten out of his system and he just looked at her as if he were a parent waiting for her to be done with her tantrum.

“I TOLD YOU NO!” V was something beyond livid, her entire body shaking with the rage and fear that fell oppressively on her whenever Johnny did this to her. “I TOLD YOU NEVER, EVER, FUCKIN' AGAIN. YOU DON'T GET TO CONTROL ME!” 

Johnny raised one shoulder in a dismissive smug shrug. **“you were gonna kill us both because you're too stupid to be any use to anyone. I got us out of it.”**

V took a step away from him. “Stop. Talking.” 

Johnny flickered out of existence and reappeared behind her. He wasn't there. Not really. But she could still feel the pressure of his body against her back. how could she smell cig's when the smoke didn't exist? **“not your call to make little lady. Let's make something clear here.”**

V knew what he was gonna say and didn't wanna hear it. “Stop talking. Stop it. no.” 

****“i'm being NICE, humouring you as much as I fucking do V.”** ** **the ghost said simply. There was no pity in his words, just cold cruel facts. **“i'm pretty sure I could wrestle a good 40% of your life away from you the second I got tired of your shit. But I don't. So when I have no damn choice, you say 'thank you for saving my life' instead of throwing a fit.”****

****

****

“I'd rather they shot me then loose control.” V said slowly, her breathing was coming in quick, frantic bursts and each exhale was lightning against where she'd been kicked. Maybe she'd broken some ribs. She breathed out and shuddered. Ok. No maybe about it. “Unlike you, i'm not scared of dying.” 

and suddenly Johnny was inches from her face, staring at her with an almost curious look. V flinched and tried to back away but it was useless. Without ever moving a muscle, Johnny simply followed her. **“No. you're too hopelessly batshit for that. But you're scared of me aren't you?”**

V swallowed and it took every ounce of her strength to make sure he didn't see her cry. “N-not you. You're just some long dead prick in my head who doesn't wanna be here either.”

Johnny laughed at that, a sound utterly devoid of humour. **“Whatever kid. Me. Me taking over. It's the same shit. But life ain't fair for either of us here, and you just have to grow up and deal with it! We've got a mission to get done. There's, corpos that HAVE to be dealt with, lies that have to be brought to light, people that HAVE to die for this fuckin' city to have any future at all. You? Me? Any crap we go through to make that happen is a small price to pay.”**

“That's your holy war. I don't-” V shook her head. “i don't have the motivation to risk everything on suicide missions. I've GROWN UP enough to know the MegaCorps don't go down to one chick with a sword.” she shoved her hand through his chest before pulling it free and tapping frantically at the metal segment of her temple where his chip was frozen. “and I sure as FUCK don't care enough to think you're worth it. Or to be trapped in my own.... brain or whatever horrific crap it is you do to me!!!” 

The Dead-Man stared at her in silence for a long time, considering her and her outburst. 

Finally he sighed. ****

****

****

**“I don't care. We're getting this done. One way or another.”**

And just like that he flickered out and vanished. 

Only he hadn't vanished. He was watching. Lurking. Biding his time. 

V's breathing got worse and she realised with a start she was hyperventilating. She fell to her knees and clutched at her head trying her hardest to get control of herself. To make her heart stop threatening to explode. Control. She had none. None at all. The Ghost did though. He knew exactly how to make sure she had no choice but to do whatever he said 'or else' in the worst way possible.

A single word popped into her brain. 

“No.” she gasped out. V pulled at her neon blue hair hard enough for her scalp to sting. “No. no no no.” but it was no use. Now she'd thought about it, there was no denying the revelation.

Slave. 

For a terrible moment, V just knelt there. Not knowing what to do or what to think. It was all too much. Far too much shit she'd never asked for or wanted.

V had been telling the truth. She wasn't scared of dying. Or pain. Or fire, or the dark. Horror movies did nothing for her, and she absolutely loved heights.

It was why she could dance through a shoot-out, laughing all the way. Make jokes with a gun in her face. It was why she won, so many times other people's self preservation kicked in and made them hesitate to think it through while she was already acting.

But this. 

The only thing she had ever been scared of was being helpless. Restrained. Captive.

A girlfriend had broken up with her because of how badly V reacted to the poor girl had playfully suggesting handcuffs in the bedroom.

And now. This. 

Any second. Any minute. And there was fuck all she could do to stop it. Ever. Pulling the chip out would kill her as much as it would ruin the Dead-mans second chance. Hell he'd probably just take over if her hand lingered around that space for too long from now on. 

V really did throw up then, the oppressive dread being far too much for her and coming out as a outpouring of grief as much as it was bile and her earlier junk food. 

Somehow she felt a little better for it once it was done.

Eventually, her legs shaking, V got to her feet, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand she staggered towards the kitchen sink for some water and paused when she saw what was sitting next to the sink.

Well, what she noticed first was that every cupboard in sight had been pulled open and randsacked through, the contents everywhere and many smashed or crushed. 

But more importantly, was the dozen packages of white powder sitting stacked like a childs brick fort. And her Pride'n'Joy sitting on top like it belonged there.

V blinked. And very slowly looked out the window to confirm that The Ghost really hadn't taken her anywhere outside her own mission and had even helped get the stuff she needed together. Then whoever he had shot........  
**  
Another of the stupid gang.**

“I'm not thanking you.” 

There was the feeling of being dismissed or blown off before it faded back into silence. V shuddered, grabbing her blade and clipping it back where it belonged at her waist. THAT made her feel a whole lot better as she shoved the carefully placed stash without any thought into the closest bag she could find. Time to get out of here and hopefully never think about this day again. 

As she was reaching the threshold though, the unhappily familiar voice came back to her. 

**You're forgetting something V.**

But V didn't even slow down, leaving the gun she'd never wanted behind, even as she stepped over the bodies of the two Brothers and the Bubblegum lady. All of whom she could tell had been killed by her pistol and her hands... no memories of it, just a horrible feeling in her gut. 

“Fuck off Dead-man.” V muttered under her breath and took the small victory for what it was worth that he didn't argue the point. There was no use in it anyway. They both knew something very important had changed between them. Probably forever.

The time for Compromise was over.


	2. the city looks so pretty do ya wanna burn it with me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so i decided what to do with this story. All the chapters will be disconnected ideas of mine for whenever i've got something to do with Night City. It'll all still be my idea of V either way though.  
> For what it's worth, this chapter would be set before chapter one, if there's any continuity at all. 
> 
> Please feel free to leave suggestions on where to take this because i certainly don't have any :D

One. Your name is One.

It isn't. But no matter what she calls you to your face, she only ever thinks of you by a number. And sometimes you almost realise it, a hesitation before she uses your name. A glimmer of emotion in her eyes when you talk of the future. Pity? Sadness? Guilt? Whatever it is, it's gone so fast you forget it was there, far too distracted by the living inferno that is V.

Inferno. That's the only word that fits, at first you thought of her as a firework. So much energy. So much movement. Burning so brightly that she demands your attention, and experience tells you people like that? Nine out of ten are dead within the month. 

But the longer you're around her the more you realise it ain't an act. She lives like she's immortal and pretty soon she has you almost believing it too. Fireworks fade away. This woman is only getting started, and the longer she lasts the more danger she is to the rest of the world.

You met her one day.... no that ain't it. V imposed herself one day, you came out of your office to see a blue haired street-punk leaning against the front desk, charming the pants off your receptionist with an easy smile and some ridiculous story about smuggling pedigree cats into Night City.

Her eyes lit up when they met yours, and she blew your receptionist a kiss as she slid a card with her number across the desk and made her way over to you. She didn't have an appointment, or any right to be bothering you this close to the end of the day. But pretty soon she talked her way into five minutes of your time.

One classified document and three scandalous video files of your business rivals and competitors later, and she walked out of your office with a promise of more to come.

That was a month ago. 

Today you consider her the most valuable weapon you have in your climb to the top. You know she isn't loyal to you. She's doing the exact same thing you are but in her own field, finding someone to make her life easier and seeing how far such teamwork can take you. She's stolen.... who knows how much for you, done the dirty work in hacking things you could never find out about on your own..... and some people are dead. people who's deaths make your life oh so much easier and your future brighter. 

She laughed the one time you asked if she had anything to do with it and changed the subject.

Today, you've been promoted for the second time this month. Today you're SOMEONE in Arasaka and that makes you someone in Night City. 

Today, you pull over to the spot she messaged you about, wind down the window, and instead of more chips or info, V just smiles that sad smile at you. And for the first time she lets the emotion linger as she tosses a grenade onto your lap and starts to back away towards where her bike is waiting.

She doesn't bother to explain why.

Your name is Two.

A woman with neon blue hair slides onto the chair opposite you. She ignores your questioning until she's looked over the menu and flagged down a waiter to order herself a steak.  
FINALLY she looks at you, just as you're getting close to pulling your gun on her. 

and she asks you if you've heard one of your co-workers got themselves blown to hell this week. You pull your gun. She grins like that's the set up to some private joke, and promises that you'd feel stupid if you shot her. 

She repeats her question. You tell her to get on with it or to get out. She asks if you'd like proof Militech ordered the hit.

You put your gun away. She grins and mutters something about punchlines, she's looking over your shoulder as she says it. and you know full well no one's there.

As you're distracted, you don't notice what she drops in your wine. Three days later your heart gives out in your sleep. The amount of powder you go through on a friday night, no one even considers investigating enough to detect poisons you aren't already paying for. But in that time, you introduce her to several important people and that's all she cares about. 

Your name is Seven.

Your boss is convinced you need to hit a Militech warehouse and hit it hard. Going on and on about 'payback' and 'sending a message we ain't to be fucked with.' Something about information he'd been given by a friend right before they passed.

you swear you got out of the gang life because you wanted to be done with this petty revenge shit. 

“Do you think you could install enough cyberware in a beaver to make it into a platypus?” 

If nothing else, you're wishing you didn't have to deal with this woman. At least on the drive over. 

She sits next to you, her feet up on your dashboard and her sword in her lap, cleaning it with a rag to a degree you think comes close to obsessive. The way her knee bounces any time she stops, or starts rapping her fingertips against the glass of the window, you realise just how bad she is at being still. 

You have a friend who's an out and out adrenalin junkie and you've seen the same restlessness in him sometimes

When you get to the place, she slips out and asks if you want to be the distraction or if she should do it. You point out you're the one carrying the bomb and she takes that as the go ahead to walk right up to the night watchman at the front gate and crack him with the butt of her sword hard enough to send him slumping to the floor. 

Everything after that is a blur. 

The crazy bitch is as good as her word, she goes sprinting at the first armed guard she sees inside the compound, bellowing some warcry and disarms him at the wrist when he tries to bring his gun up on her.

She even gives the poor bastard time to scream out loud enough to alert every guard in the place before she takes his head with the back-swing. 

It doesn't matter how easy a time you have sneaking in the other way after that. The way she laughs as she throws herself into the thick of it disturbs you. Some part of you thinks that you haven't seen her this at ease once since you met her. Fuckin' adrenalin junkies.

But hell, you get the incendiary device set up just like your boss told you, and when you come back out, you find the woman happily going through the pockets of the nearly a dozen hacked apart bodies that litter the floor around her. 

She seems intent on taking every damned thing of value on them, but doesn't so much as glance at any of the guns. Those things are the best Militech hands out to make sure their stuff is protected and she acts as if they're overly large twigs getting in the way.

“so! We good?” she asks with a smile, shoving handfuls of bloodstained Eddies into her pockets.

The second you say the timer's been set, her hand FINALLY goes towards one of the rifles. 

“Golden! Real shame one of them got a lucky shot off on you though.”

a bullet goes through your forehead before you get what she means.

Your name is forty three.

You shouldn't be having to take bullshit meetings like this.

Even if Arasaka hadn't fucking dropped the mother of all shits on your desk and torched one of your warehouses unprovoked. Even if the stupid mother fuckers on the board of directives hadn't escalated the situation and kicked off yet another damn Corp-war between you and them. 

Even then, you're far too up the Mili-tech food chain that you should be having to deal with nobodies like this.

But she came recommended. Hell, she's the one who helped prove the body at the warehouse as being on Arasaka's payroll. So she must be good for something.

She's pretty enough but you don't think much of her ego. At least she's smart enough to make it clear what she was offering to do without phrasing anything that could be used in a court of law... or more importantly, the court of public opinion. Far more dangerous too. 

But son of a bitch. You give her the names and a few days later, there are long standing thorns in your side you never have to deal with again. Most are Arasaka, but there's enough from what's supposed to be your own side that only hired nobodies like this could have gotten away with it.

In fact you're so happy with the results you promise to give her a meeting with YOUR boss. The one who sits on the board, and has multiple departments at their beck and call.

She smiles, says she can't thank you enough.... flirts with you enough for you to lie to your wife about working late and go to a secluded motel when she invites you.

You're the first idiot to actually follow her to a place with no security, no camera's and no one on the block who gives a shit about sounds of violence.

She makes your death look like a suicide. But only after she introduces you to some friends from the Voodo Boys who go through every bit of data, passwords, company knowledge and classified secrets that's saved in your implants. It's the Confirmation that you really did get her that meeting she wanted that lets her know she has no further use for you.

Your name is “Last one” 

you lay on the floor of your office, gasping for breath and trying desperately to crawl for the door while still holding in your guts.

V stands over you, watching with curiosity to see if you're actually gonna make it, even though you both know you won't.

Cheerfully, she tells you how many people she had to kill to get herself in the same room as you.

You don't believe a word of it.

She giggles to herself as she explains how she managed to get Militech and Arasaka at each others throats so easily, and how gratifying it is to 'see you two assholes doing my job for me'

You curse her out through the pain and demand to know who she's working for. There's too many corps already hovering like vultures to tear chunks out of both companies once they're done beating the shit out of each other.

She starts rambling some insane shit about a dead rock star, arson, and how much money she owes her ripper-doc.

You stop listening and start to wonder which dipshit is gonna replace you once you're gone.

The world starts to dim and as it does, it occurs to you just how many of the competent or promising folks in the lower parts of the company died from accidents, illness, or the opening shots of this here corp-war before you even knew who the enemy was.

It occurs to you how ugly your beloved company's future is with the dregs that are left having to be promoted to fill the gaps. Mili-tech might now just tear itself apart worse then any outside force could ever hope to.

As the life leaves your body, you swear, just for a moment, that there's a second, deeper, male voice laughing along with the one called V. 

As they step over your body to fight their way out of your penthouse, and vanish into the tilde wave of humanity that is the streets of Night City, the young woman grins at the man who isn't there.

“Okay Johnny Johnny, i'll bite. Who's next?”


End file.
